BREAKING NEWS
I heard it form a guy who heard it form a guy, but GeneralsJoes went right to the source to confirm.
http://generalsjoes.com/2016/04/18/hasb ... the-works/

Is a ROM, Visionaries, MASK, JEM, GI Joe Con in the works? Or does GI Joe even have a seat at the table anymore? Time will tell.

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Hmm, intredasting. I was sure they'd go for claiming more floorspace at established Cons to minimize their risk. Crow's not so bad, with the right hot sauce.


/Bro-Con would've drawn the wrong crowd, I guess.

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You don't want to get caught in a fight between the Bronies and The Rainbro Brights *. They'll mess you up.



* There are no Rainbro Brights. I made it up. I think.

yep I knew it

Now they have more control over their own properties.

They've always had control. The only difference now would be to lose the middle man and keep all the profits themselves.

An all encompassing convention, at least with Transformers and G.I. Joe would fine with me. And if they include their other brands as well its not going to take away from why I'm there.

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Hasbro never gave a rat's ass about the money they got from the Club's license fees. Combined, I'd be surprised to learn it added up to just one day's worth of their yearly intake. It was never anything more than free beer money for no effort with free fan relations-maintenance. Moving Club operations in-house isn't going to drastically change the profits from Con exclusives.

Make no mistake, this is entirely about controlling the message of the combined universe.

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If they do produce some GI Joe stuff along the lines of their SDCC offerings in this new setup, I hope it's not a complete cluster trying to get it. It would be nice to be able to have some type of guaranteed membership access as opposed to luck of the Internet draw or being gouged on eBay.

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For NOW you have -- right up until someone stumbled across it and thinks, "Hey -- great idea!"



For the most part, I'm inclined to agree.

We'll see what happens with this. Honestly, I feel very badly for the people at Fun Publications. I know they've had their problems, but I also feel that they've put together some outstanding Conventions, and I really wish I could be there for this last one, but the $$$ simply isn't there, as well as added to both the original style and modern style G.I. Joe collections, with figures that never would've happened otherwise. Yes, they're expensive, but does anyone believe that on their own, Hasbro would've given us the Red Shadows? Major Bludd's Skull Squad? The COIL Troopers? Big Lob? Or modern style versions of the Eco-Warriors, Sky Patrol, the entire Oktober Guard, or many of the characters in the FSS, or membership figures like Pythona? Or, for that matter, maintained the 12" line as they have? I don't think so.

I'll be interested to see what the focus of a "HasCon" would be. I'm concerned that except when there's a movie for it, G.I. Joe is likely to get left out in the cold. Because a HasCon isn't just going to be about controlling the combined universe, it's going to be about promoting the latest media-saturated aspect of it, and that means whatever's coming to the movie theater.

I'm curious if the change over is going to have an effect on customizing at the con. Will casters still be welcome to show their wares or run a shop there, or "third party" figure makers like Marauders and Boss Fight? If there are custom contests, will creations that use non-Hasbro parts be allowed?

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Those are some good questions.

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I think, if there is anything, any and all preconceived notions of what the show(s) will be like have to be tossed out the window. There might not be any contests. They could require Hasbro only products.

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I'm thinking this is going to be far more like what SDCC has become than what JoeCon ever was. It's a publicity event, first and foremost.

Did they have custom contests at BotCon?

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This is also a really good point, and something I don't think I ever gave JoeCon credit for. Even if it was "endorsed" by Hasbro and had the rights to make official merchandise, it was a fan convention, essentially. I think pointing out that Hasbro's approach to the con is based on entirely different motivations is a really good point.

What year does JoeCustomsCon debut?

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Another important issue is location. If they're going to do their own independent Con, where do they have it and when do they schedule it to maximize their floor traffic? I'm still thinking it's smarter to go to established Cons throughout the year with a big chunk of dominating floorspace.

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The summer following FFURGcon and Rebelscumcon